European publishers urge EU to block Meta's new content scraping terms

European publisher associations are urging the EU Commission to prevent Meta from implementing new terms of service that grant the company the right to automatically search and evaluate linked publisher content for its own products. The associations argue that Meta is abusing its dominant market position by conditioning access to its platforms on the free provision of entire digital publishing catalogs, a practice they claim violates the Digital Markets Act. Publishers warn that the resulting data outflow would be difficult to reverse.

Although Meta slightly adjusted its terms on Friday evening following criticism in the US, removing the explicit word 'training' for AI models, the new terms still cover search, recommendations, and advertising. This dispute occurs against a backdrop of growing public concern over AI-generated content. A study by state media authorities indicated that 81 percent of Germans now frequently doubt the authenticity of videos online. The legal and regulatory pressure highlights the tension between platform dominance and publisher rights in the evolving digital landscape.